Electrical precipitator and amalgamator.



J. PRBY. ELEGTRICAL PREGIPITATOB. AND AMALGAMATOR.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 18, 1910.

Patented Nov, 21, 191

a 7% E TEM v Z w w. m? o m r N 7, ay Q K w 5% 7f To all whom-git may concern;

N D STAT.

JOHN rear, (arisen rah-nelson,- cameo-ante;

F" on.

Emcmcm rnncIrrrAroR Ann A A GAM'ATGR.

Be it-known that-I, J Ol-IN FREY a citizen of.- the UnitedxStates, and a .resident of the city and county San Francisco, State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in' Electrical Precipitators and Amalgamators, of which thefollowing is a specification.

' v The invention relates to amachine for depositing and recovering the'gold or other yaluablc-inetallic products from the pulp,

shines and water carrying the same, as 1t is discharged from the stamp mill. 'lhe action is carried on by means at an electric current passing through the liquid.

' passed through the machine and the valuwhen the gold ocemsns 'freegold, or fine '-ore is su'ch thafa'large percentage of-slirries' able metals are deposited'hy the current into a mass of n1e1 elu'y.witl1 which they amalgamatemid by which they-are held, and from which they are subsequently recovered by further processes.

Ihe apparatus is, particularly efficient float gold, and when the character "of the occur-in the material coming from the stamp mills. lncertain kimlsoiorc it is desirable to mix a qua-iitity oi cyanid with the ore mid water as it passes thrt'mgh-the stamps,-

to assist in .ireejng: the gold from, the ore; the cvnmd'dlssolves some of the that some goldis held in solution. In (craving out my invention, I employ a gel d iso positi\fc and negative electrode arranged in close l t liiiinll to each other and constrain .the material from the stamps to passhes.

. m'een the electrmles. 'lfhe electrolytic action which occurs ivhen the current passes through this. n-mterial causes theinctal in solution to-he deposited on the eathode'or negativeelectrodeas. is wellknown to persons familiar with-the art and requires no:'

further explanation.

I-n the machine as constructed according to the present invention, I prefer to have the anode or positive electrode. a' moving; element andto so 'construct'it that itacls as an agitatortokcep the material in motion.

By this means the gold held insuspension or solution must. necessarily be subjected to the action o l the electric current and the constant agitation allows it to be readily deposited and become amalgamated with the mercury. l The positive electrode also acts to llhe liquid nass, it comes iron] the stamp nulls, 1's

s iecifieation oflletters' Patent. Pat t d N 21, 1911, Application filed November .15, 1910.

" seria Nb. 592,957.

deflect the material toward the negative electrode so that the metal may be more readily acted on by the. current.

-I n'practice I have found that difl'erent ores .produce'loetter results when acted on by currents of difi'erentamperage or diifer- 'ent, ,.vol t"age. and when the electrodes are formed ofdifferent materials. To allow for variations-in the current and voltage, I have provided means. whereby the distance between the electrodes may hevaried. I have .foundtl'iat. for some ores the positive electrode is preferably. formed of iron and the negative electrode of mercury, but for others it is nioreadvisable to form one or both of the. etch-odes of other metals, such as lead, copper, o'roth'er metal, according to the conditionS 0f operation. \Vhile I have described-the operation of the apparatus in connection with a gold hearing ore, it is evident that it may be used for ores bearing other minerals or metals with equal efliciency.

The, object of the present invention is .to provide a machine which is continuous in action and '\vhich is so constructed that it operates with a high etlieiency to remove the valuable metal from the liquid and stream of water or cyanid solution carrying the same- -A further objectv is toprovide a machine which may" he readily adjusted to operate .s-t'rict myselfto the showing made by such drawings anddescriptions, as I may adopt many variations within the scope of my invention as expressed in said claims.

Referring to thedrawings: Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the complete machine with'theeover removed. Fig. 2 is a trans verse vertical section taken through the canter of the machine showing the construction of the electrodes.

' [the electric current; the

/ the electric current.

- of-insulation 15. The material from the spout 16 and the residue,

The po sitive electrode or anode consists oi a cylindrical cage 2formed of-'t he end disks 3 having .parallel longitudinal strips 4 attached thereto, so as to form a comparatively rigid structure. The disks and the strips are metallic s0 as.to aflord'a path for strips being preferably formed of angle irons arranged with one leg projecting into the cage and so arranged that as the cage is revolved they exert a downward pressure on the material. The cage 2 is mounted on the shaft 5 which is (ism-nailed in bearings '6 at the opposite en These bearings are adjustable vertically in the posts 7 by means of the screw as a cathode or negative electrode. The

amount of mercury 13 in the trough is such that the mercury-- 'will not come m contact with the cage 2 to form a shortfcircuit of The distance. between the anode and cathode is. regulated, y raismg or lowering the anode by meanfsof the screws 8. As heretofore explained, different ores are acted on more efiiciently for dif ferent distances between the electrodes.

The trough 121is mounted on the cross braces 14, which are in turn secured to the posts 7 and insulated therefrom by the strips stamp mills is'fed into the trough by the after being acted on by the electric current, is discharged .over the apron 17 into the .trough 18'fr0m whence it-is deposited into the sluice 19 and carriedaway for subsequent treatment, or allowed to go to waste.

I In the drawingsI have shown the upper part of the apparatus open so that the construction may be more clearly illustrated, but in-practice it is my intention to inclose the.cage by a cover. resting on the trough. When a suflicient amount of metal has been deposited ugon'the mercury and becomes amalgamate therewith, the mercury may be drawn ofi' through the valve21. Another means of emptying the trough is also shown in Fig. 2,"where I have provided a split support for the bearings. The post is formed of two parts pivoted at '22 and by removing the bolt 23 theentire apparatus may be tilted so that the mercury is discharged 'over the apron. This arrangement renders it more diflicult for an unlicensed person to gain access to the amalgam.

1. In an apparatus of the character-dc; scribed an anode comprising a cylindrical cage adapted to be rotated about a'horizontal axis, a trough shaped-cathode below the.

anode andmeans for varying the distance between the cathode and said axis.

2. In an apparatus of the. character described, an anode comprising a cylindrical cage ada ted to "be rotated about 311016.? zontal axls, a trough shaped cathode below the anode adapted to contain a quantity for vertically moving the axis. I

3. In an a paratus of the character described a cymdrical anode adapted to be of material forming the real cathode and means rotated about a horizontal axis, atro'ugh shaped'catliode below the anode adapted to contain a. uantity'of material forming the real catho c, said trough being adapted to be tilted about a horizontal airis to discharge thefmaterial.

4,111 an apparatus of the. character described a cylindrical anode adapted to -be rotated about a horizontal axis, a trough shaped cathode below the anode adapted "to contain a quantity of material forming the real cathode, said' trough being adapted to be tilted about a horizontal axis to discharge-the material.

JOHN FREY.

Witnesses: H. G. 'Pnosiy P. S. Pmwnnn I51 is"heifiblyinerpifigd thlifiifilet zi$PatQnfiNo.1,009,143 granted November 21, lQl'iQii pbn;ihjjbplication of Jolgn Frey, of San Francisco, California, for ah impr0v'emhfiin f -ElctlicaPPrepliiitatclfs and Aliialgmmatarsf an error appears in I included inimegfifiiigl};@lggndi'fht z the Said Let 13ers Patent should be read with "this tjlflli'ifiliflibn thfiiiihfit' thsxme mznypenfgrm m 3115 recard f tin; case in the fijgqd aififiajen tpiszagxgaay ofznege b A. 1 191 1" v 0 Bmmms, 

